Archive for June, 2011

As anyone visiting one of our holiday cottages in the area may know, Wirksworth is a busy local centre and one of the Peak District towns where ancient traditions are still observed to this day. Well dressing is kept alive during Whit week, whilst each September, the ritual of ‘clypping’ is observed, as townsfolk hold hands forming a chain around the local church. Maintaining such traditions is fitting for Wirksworth, which is one of the oldest of the Peak towns and as such boasts a long history. Its market charter was granted by Edward I in the fourteenth century and it was an important centre for mining and lead production, which brought the prosperity which enabled some of the many fine buildings still visible in the town today to be built. The town’s information and Heritage centre are housed in a former merchant’s yard just off the main square, and this is a useful starting point for the visitor.(more…)

A visit to Fowey whilst on a cottage holiday is essential. Fowey, pronounced ‘Foy’, is a brisk, bustling port with a busy maritime industry built from its position as the leading china-clay exporter of the nineteenth century. The pretty white washed houses cling to the hillside, extending for a mile or so along the river Fowey estuary, looking across at the neighbouring village of Polruan nestling on the opposite bank. The natural harbour swells with visiting yachts during the summer months, and as a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with coastal walks, lovely beaches, a number of well-reputed seafood restaurants in town and providing a good access point from which to explore the region’s tourist attractions, it makes an enviable base for a holiday cottage stay.(more…)